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Sunday, June 3, 2012

Joplin tornado: One year later

The city of Joplin,
Mo., on Tuesday marked a year since a tornado struck, killing 161 people
and destroying a third of city. Many people marched during a “Day of
Unity’’ through the city’s hardest hit areas. The tornado destroyed or
damaged thousands of structures, including the high school and St.
John's Regional Medical Center, both of which are being rebuilt. The
storm is reported to have caused some $2.8 billion in damage. -- Lloyd Young (25 photos total)

Sarah
Mcconnell-Pinjuv prays during a service in front of an iron cross that
is all that remains of St. Mary's church after it was destroyed by the
tornado one year ago on May 22, 2011 in Joplin, Mo. The EF-5 tornado
devastated the leaving behind a path of destruction along with 161
deaths and hundreds of injuries, but one year later there are signs that
the town is beginning to recover. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Camryn
Dean (7) plays in the newly built tornado shelter behind her mother's
rebuilt home on May 19 in the heart of what was once nothing but debris
and destroyed homes after a tornado hit the neighborhood almost one year
ago in Joplin, Mo. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Thousands
of people walk the path of destruction on May 22 in Joplin, Mo. The
community is marking the anniversary of an EF-5 tornado that killed 161
people as it cut a wide swath through Joplin a year ago. (Charlie
Riedel/Associated Press)

Dr.
Michael Hill (center) and others bow their heads in prayer during a
ceremony at the Freeman Hospital East to celebrate the lives of the
survivors and victims of the massive tornado that passed through the
town a year ago. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

In
this composite image (top) Maddie Meek (9) and her mother Dina Meek
salvage what they can from her sister-in-law's home after it was
destroyed when a massive tornado struck on May 22, 2011 in Joplin, Mo.
One year after (bottom) the tornado, the destroyed buildings and rubble
have been removed and new homes have been built on May 20, 2012. (Joe
Raedle/Getty Images)

In
this composite image (top) armored car courier Josh Beck works on
salvaging cash from an ATM which was damaged and tossed approximately 20
feet when a massive tornado passed through the town on May 22, 2011 in
Joplin, Mo. One year after the tornado (bottom) the ATM machine and
rubble have been removed on May 20. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Artists
Emily Frankoski (left) and Dolores Bilke paint a tornado damaged tree
in Joplin, Mo. on May 16. May 22 marks the one year anniversary of a
deadly EF-5 tornado that ripped through the town, killing 161 people.
The tornado damaged or destroyed about 7,500 homes and 500 other
buildings, but the city is now well into a recovery mode that has
spurred some segments of the local economy. (Eric Thayer/Reuters)

Freeman
Hospital employees (from left) Nova Beyersdorfer, billing clerk, Dale
Stiver, housekeeping manager, and Nancy Long, director of nursing for
Freeman Neosho, release a lantern on May 22, 2012 in memory of May 22,
2011 tornado victims, at Freeman Hospital in Joplin, Mo. The tornado
killed 161 people and destroyed one-third of the city, making it the
nation's deadliest single tornado in six decades. (Roger Nomer/The
Joplin Globe via Associated Press)

Hollyhocks grow in an abandoned garden on May 8 at a destroyed home in
Joplin, Mo. Reconstruction continues in the community as the anniversary
of an EF-5 tornado that destroyed a large swath of the city and killed
161 people. (Charlie Riedel/Associated Press)

The
Joplin High School sign is seen in front of the rubble of the school
after the letters H and E were placed on it reading "Hope" as the town
rebuilds from the catastrophic tornado that hit almost one year ago on
May 19, 2012 in Joplin, Mo. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A
sign remembering a tornado victim is seen on a street corner on May 22,
2012, in Joplin, Mo. (Charlie Riedel/Associated Press)

Students
show their emotions at the 2012 Joplin High School commencement
ceremony inside the Leggett and Plant Athletic Center at Missouri
Southern State University in Joplin, Mo. on May 21. (Larry
Downing/Reuters)

U.S.
President Barack Obama greets class seniors before he attends the 2012
Joplin High School commencement ceremony inside the Leggett and Plant
Athletic Center at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Mo. on
May 21. (Larry Downing/Reuters)

This
three-photo combo shows a scene taken on May 25, 2011 (top) July 20,
2011 (center) and May 7, 2012 (bottom) shows progress made in Joplin,
Mo. in the year after an EF-5 tornado destroyed a large swath of the
city and killed 161 people. In the top photo, Beverly Winans hugs her
daughter Debbie Surlin while salvaging items from Winans' devastated
home which today stands cleared of debris. (Charlie Riedel/Associated
Press)

Codessa Schoonover spends time remembering her grandmother on May 19 as
she sits on what remains of the tree in front of the home her
grandmother was killed in when a tornado struck almost one year ago on
May 22, 2011. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A
sign reading "Hope" is seen on a fence around the rubble of the Joplin
High School after one year ago the town was hit by a catastrophic
tornado on May 22, 2011. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

This
three-photo combo shows a scene taken on May 28, 2011 (top) July 21,
2011 (center) and May 7, 2012 (bottom)showing progress made in Joplin,
Mo. in the year after an EF-5 tornado destroyed a large swath of the
city and killed 161 people. In the top photo, Patrick O'Banion salvages
items from his devastated home in a neighborhood now mostly cleared of
debris. (Charlie Riedel/Associated Press)

A wall is raised on a Habitat for Humanity house May 22, 2012 being
built to replace one that was destroyed one year ago after the town was
hit by a tornado on May 22, 2011 in Joplin, Mo. The EF-5 tornado left
behind a path of destruction along with 161 deaths and hundreds of
injuries, but one year later there are signs that the town is beginning
to recover. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A
sign is seen on a tornado damaged tree in Joplin, Mo. May 16, 2012. May
22 marks the one year anniversary of a deadly EF-5 tornado that ripped
through the town, killing 161 people. (Eric Thayer/Reuters)

Morgan
Osburn (far left) David Hoosier and Kim Hoosier spend a quiet moment
on May 20 together in front of a memorial built for their friend Lance
Hare who was killed when the town was hit by a massive tornado almost
one year ago in Joplin, Mo. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

This
three-photo combo shows a scene taken on May 27, 2011(top) July 21,
2011 (center) and May 7, 2012 (bottom) shows progress made in Joplin,
Mo. in the year after an EF-5 tornado destroyed a large swath of the
city and killed 161 people. In the top photo, Jim Goff carries salvaged
items to his car as he helps a friend retrieve items from a destroyed
home in a neighborhood now mostly cleared of debris. (Charlie
Riedel/Associated Press)

Construction
workers help build a home on May 21at the spot where a home had been
knocked down almost one year ago by the massive EF-5 tornado that passed
through. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Mary
Black hugs her brother Scottie Black (far left) as Dawna Middleton and
Bill Cook also hug during a prayer service in front of the iron cross
that is all that remains of St. Mary's church after it was destroyed by
the tornado one year ago on in Joplin, Mo. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A
destroyed home is seen in front of a house that is being built in
Joplin, Mo. on May 16. May 22 marks the one year anniversary of a deadly
EF-5 tornado that ripped through the town, killing 161 people. The
tornado damaged or destroyed about 7,500 homes and 500 other buildings,
but the city is now well into a recovery mode that has spurred some
segments of the local economy. (Eric Thayer/Reuters)

Scott
Hasty places an American flag on May 22 next to where his house was
before it was destroyed by the massive tornado that passed through the
town one year ago in Joplin, Mo. Hasty said he was in the house when
the EF-5 tornado hit leaving behind a path of destruction along with 161
deaths and hundreds of injuries, but one year later there are signs
that the town is beginning to recover. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)